Built-in vacuum cleaning system



April 7, 1964 J. H. MILLER, JR

BUILT-IN VACUUM CLEANING SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Filed Oct, 23, 1961 FIG.4.

IIIHHUHUUIIU INVENTOR. JOHN H. MILLER, JR.

April 1964 J. H. MILLER, JR

BUILT-IN VACUUM CLEANING SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1961 F l G 2.

F l G 3.

INVENTOR. JOHN H. MILLER, JR

United States Patent 3,127,629 BUILT-1N VACUUM CLEANING SYSTEM John H. Miller, lira, Lynwood, Caliti, assignor to The Filter; Corporation, Los Angeies, Calii, a corporation of Michigan Filed Oct. 23, 1961, Ser. No. 146,693 3 Elsi/ms. (Qt. --3l4) This invention relates to permanently installed type vacuum cleaning systems and more particularly to a suction and filtering unit for such systems.

A vacuum cleaning system of the type to which this invention relates comprises an arrangement of pneumatic ducts within the walls of a house, for instance, and connected to a filter and suction appliance which may be located in a closet or other out-of-the-way place, e.g., in a corner of the garage of the house. The duct system has branches extending to vacuum sockets in the various rooms. To use the system, an operator employs a long flexible hose having a rug nozzle or other attachment at one end. The operator actuates the filter end suction appliance from a remote switch to create suction throughout the system, and then opens a vacuum socket which is located near the areas to be cleaned and plugs the free end of the flexible hose into that socket.

it is an object of this invention to provide a filter and suction appliance for a system of the abovementioned type which is adapted to be easily placed and mounted into whatever desired space will accommodate it and be easily and conveniently connected to the duct system.

Another object is to provide a filter and suction appliance of the above-mentioned character which when in its installed position is readily accessible for purposes of replacing dust-collecting bags and of servicing motor parts.

A further object is to provide a filter and suction appliance having two power units which are so arranged with respect to each other and with respect to the filter receptacle of the appliance, that they greatly enhance each others action and cooperate in a way which produces maximum suction in the system.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the course of the following part of this specification, wherein the details of construction and mode of operation of a preferred embodiment are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary schematic view of a portion of a house having an intalled vacuum cleaning system of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the filter and suction appliance of the system;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation partly in section taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 and showing details of the power units; and,

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view partly in section taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 2.

Referring to the drawing with greater particularity, the house which is represented in FIGURE 1, is designated generally by reference numeral 1t and comprises inside walls :11, 12 and others defining various rooms of the house. The house has a built-in cleaning system of this invention comprising a filter and suction appliance 14 positioned in a corner of what is represented as a garage 15 of the house. The appliance 14 is connected to a sys- "ice tern of ducts 16 which extend in the walls of the house and have normally closed wall sockets 17 and a single outlet 18 for connection to the appliance 14 The filter and suction appliance 14 comprises a filter receptacle 19* having a cylindrical side 20, a bottom 21, and a removable cover 22. The receptacle is adapted to be mounted upon a wall of the house by means of a separable assembly, designated generally by reference numeral 24, and comprising a pair of angle brackets 25 suitably secured to the wall, e.g., '11, as with screws 26. A rod 27 extends through these brackets. There is a flange 28 secured at its ends, as by riveting or welding, to the exterior of the side 20 of the receptacle, and adjacent the ends of flange 28 are slotted lugs 29, 29 fastened with bolts 39, 30. The lugs hook over the rod 27 and the flange '28 bears against the ends of the brackets 25 to hang the receptacle on the wall 11 in a way which permits easy removal by lifting the receptacle off the rod.

Within the receptacle are two filter bags, one, 33, of cloth and the other, 34, of paper. For supporting these bags inside the receptacle there is an annular ledge 36 projecting inwardly from the upper end of the side wall 26 of the receptacle. The cloth filter bag 33 is secured at its open top around a supporting ring 37 having a gasket or elastomer seal 38 which seats upon the ledge 36. The disposable paper filter bag 34 has a mounting ring 39 of cardboand, for example, around its open top to rest upon the seal 33. The cover 22 has two ears 40, 40 diametrically opposite each other for engagement by two toggle clamps 42, 42 which secure the cover upon the side wall of the receptacle.

Receptacle 19 is connected to the duct system 16 by a flexible hose 44 one end of which is connected to the outlet socket 18 of the duct system and the other end to an elbow 47 upon the cover 22 such that dust-laden air from the duct system passes into the receptacle through an opening 48 in the cover. The cover has an upwardly projecting annular flange 4? defining the opening 48 and the elbow 47 fits around this flange and is secured upon the exterior of the cover with rivets 50 which extend through a base flange 51 of the elbow and through the cover.

A feature of this invention is the position. and orientation of the elbow 47 adapting it for connection to the flexible hose 44 in diiierent selected arrangements. In the illustrated embodiment the elbow is positioned ottcenter of the cover and in line with the diametrically opposite toggle clamps 42, 42. That end opening 53 of the elbow into which the downstream end 54 of the flexible hose 44 is inserted is the upstream opening of the elbow and it faces radially inward of the cover and is inclined upwardly from the cover to an extent of about thirty degrees. The diameter of the cover along which the toggle clamps and the elbow are aligned is at a central angle of about sixty degrees from a radial line of the receptacle passing midway through the mounting as sembly 24.

Such arrangement of parts for the receptacle adapts it to be mounted anywhere along a wall or in a corner of a room with its toggle clamps 42, 42 being readily accessible for opening of the cover and with the elbow 47 being conveniently located for connection with the flexible hose 44 to the duct outlet 18. The use of a flexible hose for connecting the receptacle to the duct system avoids the making of any abrupt bends in the connection which tend to become clogged. The cover may be rotated 180 degrees from the position thereof shown in FIGURE 2 for engagement by its ears 4%, 4d with the toggle clamps 42, 42 and still the upstream openings 53 or" the elbow 47 will face radially inward of the receptacle for connection to the downstream end of the flexible hose 44 without developing any abrupt bends in the hose. Should the plan of the house be such as to dictate locating the duct outlet 18 in the wall 11 for instance, the flexible hose 44 and the elbow 47 may be easily and readily interconnected without the making of any abrupt bends in the hose. Also, when it is desired to use the filter and suction appliance 14 for cleaning purposes in the garage 15 with a rug nozzle or other attachment on the end of a long flexible hose, the cover 22 may be oriented in that selected position which makes it most convenient for connection of the cleaning hose to the elbow 47.

The filter and suction appliance 14 includes two power units 57 and 58 for producing suction in and throughout the filter receptacle 19 and the duct system 16. These units are mounted on the exterior of the side wall 2% of the receptacle diametrically opposite the mounting assembly 24 where they will be readily accessible for servicing. Referring in particular to unit 57, it comprises a suitable electric motor within a motor housing 60 which is mounted upon a housing 62 of square cross-section and encasing a conventional multiple stage suction fan, the motor being drivingly connected to the fan. The inlet eye 63 of this fan opens downwardly into a hollow bracket 64 rigidly secured to the side wall of the filter receptacle and opening into the receptacle through a passage 65. Mounting screws 67 hold the hollow bracket 64 to the receptacle and also serve to mount a spacer 68 upon the interior of the side wall 2i This spacer prevents the filter bag 33 from being sucked across opening 65 where it would block the fiow of air. The hollow bracket 64 has its outer end normally closed by a plate 69 provided with a gasket 70 in sealing contact with the adjacent edges of the bracket. Any suitable means such as a clip 71, may be employed to hold the closure plate 69 detachably assembled to the end of the bracket 64. Upon the inside of the closure plate is a cupped shell 73 which frictionally supports a filter 74 within the bracket. As here shown, filter 74 comprises a tubular member of screening covered with flocking having fine passages through which the air flows on its way to the fan inlet 63. Clean air from the multiple stage fan passes through an outlet 67 in its housing 62.

Suction unit 58 is connected in series with the suction unit 57, the unit 58 being generally similar in construction to the suction unit 57, with the component parts of the unit 58 being a motor housing 78, a square housing 79 containing a multiple stage suction fan, and a hollow bracket 80 containing a screen and flock filter 81, the bracket 80 having an air inlet 82, and the fan housing 79 having an air outlet 83. The bracket 80 includes a flange 85 by means of which the unit 58 is mounted as with bolts 86 upon the exterior of the filter receptacle 19. A short length of fiexible hose 88 is used to connect the inlet 82 of unit 58 to the outlet 67 of the unit 57. An exhaust hose 90 extends from the outlet 83 of unit 58 for discharge of filtered air to the atmosphere. The distal end of the exhaust hose 90 is available for connection to an auxiliary device such as a paint sprayer or other airpressure operated device.

The series or tandem arrangement of the two suction units 57 and 58 results in the units greatly enhancing each others action and results in cooperation of the units in a way which produces maximum suction in the system. In an example of actual reduction of this invention to practice, it was found that a two power unit arrangement produced suction of 115 to 124) inches of water, whereas a single unit of the same size and power of each of the units of the two-unit arrangement produced suction only of 70 inches of water. Also, in an arrangement of two suction units in which each was connected directly to the filter receptacle rather than in tandem, the resulting suction was substantially less than that of the tandem arrangement.

While the particular built-in vacuum cleaning system herein shown and disclosed in detail is fully capable of attaining the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of construction of design herein shown other than as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A self-contained unitary nonportable suction cleaning system for use in cleaning surfaces within buildings and provided with means fixedly anchoring the same immovably tot he building, said system including an arrangement of installed ducts in communication with one another and having a plurality of normally closed inlets adapted to be selectively coupled to a flexible hose having a suction nozzle at its inlet end, a unitary main casing having a normally closed but detachable cover, inlet connection means having one end opening into said ducts and its other end opening into said casing through said detachable cover, a filter bag supported within said casing and removable for emptying when said cover is detached, a pair of exposed structurally-independent tubular brackets, means rigidly securing said brackets on the exterior wall of said main casing in spaced-apart relation, one of said brackets being in communication with the interior of said main casing on the opposite side of said filter bag from said inlet connection means, a separate multiple stage motor fan suction unit mounted on each of said brackets, means connecting said tubular brackets and said suction uints in series with one another, said inlet connection being mounted on said cover and opening therethrough to the interior of said casing, said inlet connection including a short length of flexible hose having one end attached to said cover and the other end connected to said duct system, and at least one of said suction fan units having final filter means mounted in and readily detachable through an opening in the wall of one of said tubular brackets, and said final filter means being supported across the inlet opening of said one tubular bracket and effective to collect foreign matter carried in the suction air stream entering said one suction fan unit.

2. A suction cleaning system as defined in claim 1 characterized in that said casing cover is located across the upper end of said casing and is removable and replaceable without interference from either of said suction fan units, and being further characterized in that the driving motor for each of said suction fan units is accessible for servicing independently of the other and without need for detaching the cover for said main casing.

3. A permanently installed type vacuum cleaning system comprising an arrangement of ducts having a plurality of suction inlet openings and an outlet opening, a filter and suction appliance, and a flexible hose for releasably connecting said appliance to said outlet opening, said appliance comprising a hollow receptacle, a filter bag in said receptacle, a mounting assembly secured upon the exterior of the receptacle for removably mounting the receptacle upon a support wall, a cover for the receptacle, fastener means on the receptacle for releasably securing said cover upon the receptacle, a tubular elbow connected to the cover and to said flexible hose, said elbow having an upstream end opening facing generally in a direction transversely of the cover, the line of said fasteners extending at an angle with respect to a radial line of the receptacle passing through a midpoint of said mounting assembly, two suction units arranged in tandem, separate and independent means for securing each of said suction units on the exterior of said casing and including means for exhausting air from said ducts and through said filter bag and through said units in series.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED FTATES PATENTS Antle Aug. 2, 1932 6 Paine Mar. 24, 1936 Lofgren Sept. 19, 1950 Jackson Sept. 2, 1952 Rowe Feb. 12, 1957 Scanlan et a1 Dec. 1, 1959 Fogle Nov. 8, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland Feb. 16, 1950 

1. A SELF-CONTAINED UNITARY NONPORTABLE SUCTION CLEANING SYSTEM FOR USE IN CLEANING SURFACES WITHIN BUILDINGS AND PROVIDED WITH MEANS FIXEDLY ANCHORING THE SAME IMMOVABLY TOT HE BUILDING, SAID SYSTEM INCLUDING AN ARRANGEMENT OF INSTALLED DUCTS IN COMMUNICATION WITH ONE ANOTHER AND HAVING A PLURALITY OF NORMALLY CLOSED INLETS ADAPTED TO BE SELECTIVELY COUPLED TO A FLEXIBLE HOSE HAVING A SUCTION NOZZLE AT ITS INLET END, A UNITARY MAIN CASING HAVING A NORMALLY CLOSED BUT DETACHABLE COVER, INLET CONNECTION MEANS HAVING ONE END OPENING INTO SAID DUCTS AND ITS OTHER END OPENING INTO SAID CASING THROUGH SAID DETACHABLE COVER, A FILTER BAG SUPPORTED WITHIN SAID CASING AND REMOVABLE FOR EMPTYING WHEN SAID COVER IS DETACHED, A PAIR OF EXPOSED STRUCTURALLY-INDEPENDENT TUBULAR BRACKETS, MEANS RIGIDLY SECURING SAID BRACKETS ON THE EXTERIOR WALL OF SAID MAIN CASING IN SPACED-APART RELATION, ONE OF SAID BRACKETS BEING IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAID MAIN CASING ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID FILTER BAG FROM SAID INLET CONNECTION MEANS, A SEPARATE MULTIPLE STAGE MOTOR FAN SUCTION UNIT MOUNTED ON EACH OF SAID BRACKETS, MEANS CONNECTING SAID TUBULAR BRACKETS AND SAID SUCTION UNITS IN SERIES WITH ONE ANOTHER, SAID INLET CONNECTION BEING MOUNTED ON SAID COVER AND OPENING THERETHROUGH TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID CASING, SAID INLET CONNECTION INCLUDING A SHORT LENGTH OF FLEXIBLE HOSE HAVING ONE END ATTACHED TO SAID COVER AND THE OTHER END CONNECTED TO SAID DUCT SYSTEM, AND AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SUCTION FAN UNITS HAVING FINAL FILTER MEANS MOUNTED IN AND READILY DETACHABLE THROUGH AN OPENING IN THE WALL OF ONE OF SAID TUBULAR BRACKETS, AND SAID FINAL FILTER MEANS BEING SUPPORTED ACROSS THE INLET OPENING OF SAID ONE TUBULAR BRACKET AND EFFECTIVE TO COLLECT FOREIGN MATTER CARRIED IN THE SUCTION AIR STREAM ENTERING SAID ONE SUCTION FAN UNIT. 